Awards Committee

General Information
The Awards Committee is responsible to collect, evaluate and recommend members for MIAAA designated awards: Athletic Director of the Year, Distinguished Service Award, Dedicated Service Award, State Award of Merit, Special Recognition Award and Regional Athletic Director of the Year. The term of this office is a multi-year term, with the appointments giving representation to all regions of the state.

Dedicated Service, Athletic Director
Presented to identify and honor outstanding Athletic Directors for serving the profession for 5-10-15-20-25-30-35 or more years.
• Current member in good standing of MIAAA
• A member for a minimum of five (5) years
• Fulfillment of the requirement may include verified membership in another state.
• Completed application (including proper signatures) filed with Regional
Representative and forwarded to Awards Committee Chairperson.
Deadline: February 1

Dedicated Service, Athletic Secretary
Presented to identify and honor outstanding Athletic Secretaries for serving the profession for 5-10-15-20-25-30-35 or more years
• Must be secretary for Athletic Director who is a member in good standing of MIAAA
• Minimum of five (5) years of service
• Completed application (including proper signatures) filed with Regional Representative and forwarded to Awards Committee Chairperson
Deadline: February 1

MIAAA Special Recognition Award
This award is not one that would be presented each year. It would be available to honor an individual/s or organizations that have given in many different ways to High School sports or to MIAAA. This award is presented for outstanding commitment, Dedication, Leadership, Service and Enthusiasm to Michigan's athletes, coaches, and athletic administrators.
• Open nomination to any person who has made contributions that have made the job of athletic director that much easier and is greatly appreciated.
Deadline: October 1; Nominations will be held current for three years

George Lovich State Award of Merit
Presented to an Athletic Director who is presently a member in good standing of both the MIAAA and NIAAA; must have demonstrated long-term contributions, leadership and meritorious service to their profession of interscholastic athletics at the State and/or National level
• Current member MIAAA and NIAAA
• Ten (10) years of service in Michigan
• Time, effort, commitment to athletic administration and to the MIAAA and/or NIAAA
• Demonstrated leadership in athletic administration.
Deadline: Oct. 1; Nominations will be held current for three years

Jack Johnson Distinguished Service Award
Presented annually to an individual outside the field of interscholastic athletic administration who has, over the years, demonstrated a service to the high school athletes of the state and/or MIAAA.
• Open nomination to any person who has given their time, effort and commitment to Michigan High School athletics and the student participants.
Deadline: October 1; Nominations will be held current for three years

Regional Athletic Director of the Year
Presented on an annual basis to MIAAA members in recognition of their dedicated service, leadership, and special contributions to their local and regional levels of interscholastic athletic administration
• Current member in good standing of MIAAA
• Athletic Administrator and MIAAA member for at least five (5) years
• Demonstrated contributions to local, conference and/or regional interscholastic athletics
• Once a person becomes inactive in interscholastic athletics, the Awards Committee may still consider the name for the following year.
Deadline: October 1; Nominations will be held current for three years

AD of the Year
Presented on an annual basis to an MIAAA member who, through their position as an Athletic Director, has made a significant impact on the lives of their students and has successfully used athletics as a catalyst to achieve demonstrable progress in the social and cultural environment of their respective school and community.
• Current member of MIAAA and NIAAA
• Fifteen(15) years of service in Michigan
• Time, effort, and commitment to athletic administration, MIAAA and/or NIAAA
• Regional Athletic Director of the Year award recipient
• Once a person becomes inactive in interscholastic athletics, the Awards Committee may still consider the name for the following year.
Deadline: October 1

Nomination Process (Does not apply to Dedicated Service Awards)
1. Persons may be nominated by anyone within the community or organization
2. Application form and letters of recommendation, plus recent photo are sent to the Regional Representative to verify information on nominee.
3. Application form and letters of nomination, plus photo are sent to the Awards Committee by the Regional Representative.
4. Awards Committee meets to recommend award winners to Executive Committee

Responsibilities of Awards Committee
1) Evaluate Regional Representatives' recommendation for Regional Athletic Director of the Year.
2) Recommend a member for the Athletic Director of the Year award.
3) Seek out nominations, collect information, evaluate data and recommend candidates for the Distinguished Service Award, State Award of Merit and Special Recognition Award.
4) Assist by encouraging members to complete information needed to receive Dedicated Service Awards as earned.
5) Attend the two yearly meetings of the committee; Summer Camp meeting (if needed) and scheduled selection meeting.
6) Assist in presentation of awards at the Annual MIAAA Awards Banquet at the Mid-Winter Conference.

Award Timelines
September 10 - Regional Athletic Director of the Year, Special Recogniton Award and Distinguished Service Award nominations due to Awards Co-Chairperson(s)
September 25 - Letter sent to nominee by Awards Committee to gather all necessary forms, letters of recommendation, and picture
October 1 - NCSSAD, NIAAA and NHSCA nominations due to National Office
October 15 - Forms, letters of recommendation and pictures due to Awards Committee
October 20 - Awards Committee meets to evaluate and recommend award nominees for Mid-Winter Conference to MIAAA Executive Board
December 1 - Award winners biography and pictures available for publication in pre-conference newsletter
February 1 - Award winner information ready for Banquet program printer, awards ordered, and certificates printed; Dedicated Service Award forms due to Awards Committee for certificates to be printed for banquet
April 1 - NIAAA nominations due to National Office

Information to Regional Representatives
Each March, Regional Representatives will be supplied with an up-to-date MIAAA Awards History printout; this provides each Representative with base information of which members have been award winners in the past and those currently eligible for the nomination of Athletic Director of the Year.

Each Regional Representative will be provided with a current MIAAA Dedicated Service Award listing. This will assist the Representative in reminding current year members of their probable Dedicated Service year award.

Each Regional Representative will be provided a complete packet of MIAAA and MHSAA Award nomination forms with deadlines for each. Representatives may then include this information in their yearly Region meetings. This can be obtained on the website.

Each March, Regional Representatives will be provided a list of the current names that have been nominated from the specific region, eligible for Region Athletic Director of the Year, including the information in the hands of the Awards Committee. Notification of the need for more nominations will be made at this time.

Forms Needed by Regional Representatives

- Regional Athletic Director of the Year Award -form is due to committee October 1 - Jack Johnson Distinguished Service award - form is due to committee October 1
- Athletic Director of the Year - form is due to committee October 1
- George Lovich State Award of Merit - form is due to Co-Chairperson October 1
- Dedicated service Award - form is due to Co-Chairperson February 1
- MIAAA Special Recognition Award - form is due to Co-Chairperson October 1

History of MIAAA Award Recipients

All of the MIAAA's past Major Award recipients and previous year's Dedicated Service honorees are located in the following files. This was recently updated inApril, 2014. If there is an error or omission, please notify Karen Leinaar at Bear Lake Schools or at karenleinaar@gmail.com